Mechanism for handling closure caps



A ril 5, 1966 c. s. ocHs ETAL 3,244,264

MECHANISM FOR HANDLING CLOSURE CAPS Filed OCT.- 7, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS C/mews S. 0045 BY (JOSEPH FJNCO Apa'ifi 5, mm c. a. 0cm; ETAL MECHANISM FOR HANDLING CLOSURE CAPS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 001;. '7, 1963 II f .i 1bit. In

INVENTORS C/mmss S 0015 (/OSEPH C'- Pu/ co ATTORNEY April 5, 1966 c. s. ocHs ETAL. 3,244,264

MECHANISM FOR HANDLING cnosmm CAPS 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 7, 1963 INVENTORS' CUM 455 6. Och 5 BY dam C. $0060 April 5, W66 c. s. OCHS ETAL MECHANISM FOR HANDLING CLOSURE CAPS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed 001;. '7, 1965 I N VEN TORS 614 491.55 3. 00M? A 7" TOP/YE Y United States Patent 3,244,264 MECHANISM FQR HANDLENG CLGSURE CAPS Charles S. Cells and Joseph C. Rnnco, Lancaster, Ohio,

assignors to Anchor Hocking Glass Corporation, Lancaster, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. '7, 1963, Ser. No. 314,281 Claims. (Cl. 193-43) The present invention relates to a mechanism for han- 'dling closure caps and more particularly to an improved closure cap handling mechanism which is adapted to invert improperly positioned closure caps.

The present application is an improvement over United States Patent No. 3,095,957, dated July 2, 1963.

In applying closure caps to containers to form an hermetically sealed package, it is important that the closure caps be delivered to the closure cap applying mechanism in the proper position before they are applied to a container. If an improperly positioned closure cap is fed to the sealing machine, not only would the container be damaged but damage to the sealing machine may also result.

In order to insure that the closure caps are all properly positioned before being fed to the sealing machine, the closure caps are passed through an inverting mechanism which will invert any improperly positioned closure caps.

A number of such inverting mechanisms are now in use. One of the drawbacks of existing inverting mechanisms is that in order to adapt the inverting mechanism to handle closure caps of different sizes, a large number of parts must be replaced. This is time consuming and expensive.

Furthermore where such inverting mechanisms include a rotatable star wheel, there is danger that the inertia of the rotating'star wheel sometimes causes a pocket in the 'starwheel to move out of register with a closure cap beingfed thereto. If this happens, a point of the star may strike the closure cap and either damage it or result in a him.

The present invention overcomesthese drawbacks and provides an improved inverting mechanism which can be easily adapted to handle closure caps of different sizes without the necessity of replacing large numbers of parts.

Another object of the present invention is the provision :of an improved inverting mechanism in which the pockets of the star wheel are assured of being in register with closure caps fed thereto.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein'will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment 'of the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification, wherein: 1

PEG. 1 is a plan view of an inverting mechanism made in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the inverting mechanism shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of one of the adjustable rails of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of another adjustable rail of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a detail of the adjustment tab of the adjustable rail shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 66 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 77 of FIG. 1; t

3,244,264 Patented Apr. 5, 1966 FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the inverting mechanism showing the position of the parts when the necessary adjustments have been made to permit the inverting mocha nism to handle caps of a different size;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of an inverting mechanism showing another embodiment of the present invention;

FTG. 11 is a sectional view taken along line 111-11 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the star wheel shown in FIG. 11.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1, the inverting mechanism is adapted to handle a closure cap 1 comprising the usual cover portion 2 and depending skirt portion 3 (FIG. 8).

In order to permit the closure cap to be properly positioned on a container (not shown) the caps 1 are presented to the container with the cover portions 2 facing upwardly, as shown in FIG. 6. If the closure caps 1 are improperly positioned, i.e., their cover portions 2 facing downwardly, the inverting mechanism of the present invention is adapted to invert the improperly'positioned closure caps 1 so that they are presented to the sealing mechanism in proper position, i.e., with their cover portions 2 facing upwardly.

The closure caps 1 are fed by a hopper 5 to a rotatable cap-inverting star Wheel 6 through an inlet chute 7. The star wheel 6 is preferably freely rotatable on a shaft 16 and is rotated by the force of the closure caps being fed to it. The star wheel 6 is held in place on the shaft 16 'by a wing nut 15 or any other suitable fastening means and comprises a plurality of pockets 11 each adapted to receive a closure cap 1 from inlet chute 7. A permanent magnet 12 is provided in each pocket 11 and is adapted to overlie a closure cap when seated in the pocket.

Those closure caps 1 which are properly positioned, i.e., with their cover portions 2 facing upwardly (as in FIG. 6), are not affected by the permanent magnet 12. However, those closure caps which are improperly positioned, i.e., with cover portion 2 facing downwardly, are moved by the magnetic attraction of the permanent magnet 12 to a raised position as shown in FIG. 7. As the star wheel continues to rotate, the raised closure caps 1 are engaged by an inverting cam 13 which forces the closure caps down to their proper positions, as shown in FIG. 8.

An auxiliary magnet 50 is also provided adjacent the end of inlet chute 7 and overlying the star wheel 6 to aid the permanent magnets 12 in raising the closure caps, especially when so-called deep shell caps are being handled.

This structure and its operation is described in greater detail in said Patent No. 3,095,957.

After the caps leave the starwheel 6 they are fed to a .sealingmechanism not shown) by means of exit chutes 8 and 9.

In order to permit the inverting mechanism of the present invention to handle closure caps of different sizes, the star wheel 6 must be replaced in order to receive closure caps of different sizes. This may be done by removing wing nut 15, lifting the star wheel and replacing 'the star wheel 6 with a star wheel adapted to receive the closure cap being handled. In order to aid in the replacement of star wheel 6, the inverting cam 13 is provided with a pivotal mounting at 14 so the inverting cam may be moved out of the way by being swung around the pivot during replacement of the star wheel 6. When processing smaller caps, a larger star wheel 6 is used whereas when larger caps are processed, a smaller star Wheel is used. Thus the outer edge of the caps subscribed substantially .processed -by the star wheel.

3 the same are as they travel in a circular motion with the star wheel 6.

Since the wing nut which holds the star wheel in place is located above the star wheel, and is readily accessible, the star wheel removing operation is a relatively simple one because the wing nut 15 may be easily removed from the top.

When the star wheel 6 is replaced, the size of the chutes 7 and 8 must be changed in order to permit caps of different sizes to pass therethrough.

The inlet and outlet chutes 7 and 8, respectively, are provided with the usual bottom wall 17 and 18 and permanent outer rails 19 and 28, respectively. The inner rails 20 and 21 of the inlet and outlet chutes 7 and 8, respectively, are adjustable as will be pointed out hereinafter in greater detail.

To change the size of the chutes 7 and 8, the adjustable inner rails 26 and 21 of the chutes '7 and 8, respectively, are adjusted. The inner rail 20 of the chute 7 is provided with an inwardly directed adjusting tab 22 at its forward end overlying a lower wall 29. Lower wall 29 is provided with openings (not shown) and the inner rail is provided with an outwardly directed adjusting tab 23 at its rear end which is superimposed over upper wall 38 of chute also provided with an opening 39 (FIG. 6).

The front adjusting tab 22 is provided with a plurality of adjustment openings 24 and the rear adjusting tab 23 is provided with a plurality of adjustment openings 25. Both groups of adjustment openings 24 and 25 are adapted to cooperate with thumb screws 26 and 27, respectively, insertable therein to hold the tabs 22 and 23 in place.

The openings 24 are preferably arranged in a central elongated row 24a of four openings, a forward shorter row 24b of two openings and a rearward row comprised of a single opening 240. Preferably the openings 24 are numbered to indicate different cap sizes. The openings 25 of the rear adjusting tab 23 are arranged in a similar manner in three rows 25a, 25b and 25c and are preferably correspondingly numbered.

In order to adjust the adjustable rail 21 of the exit chute 8 a plate 30 is provided with two groups of open ings 31 and 32 arranged in three rows 31a, 31b, 31c and 32a, 32b and 32c, respectively, in a manner similar to the arrangement of the group of openings 24 and 25 on tabs 22 and 23 of the adjustable rail 20. These openings are adapted to cooperate with thumb screws 35 and 36 cooperating with openings 33 and 34 therebelow.

Preferably the three rows of adjustment openings of each group 24, 25, 31 and 32 are arranged in staggered relationship to allow small increments of width adjustment.

It will thus be seen that with this structure the adjustable rails 20 and 21 can be moved inwardly or outwardly by inserting the thumb screws in any adjustment openings of the group 24, 25, 31 and 32. Thus, the chutes 20 and 21 may be adjusted to handle any size cap which is to be For larger size caps, the adjustable rails 20 and 21 are moved away from the permanent rails and for smaller size caps they are moved toward the permanent rails.

Hence the machine can easily be adapted to be used for different size caps by merely adjusting the adjustable rails 20 and 21 and replacing the star wheel 6.

Another feature of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The rear edge 12a of each magnet 12 in the star wheel 6 is beveled to permit the closure cap to easily slide off the magnets 12 as the star wheel 6 rotates.

In addition the outer edge of the exit chute 9 is provided with an opening 41 and has a magnetic cam which, although it attracts the caps, is so shaped and positioned so that it urges the closure caps passing thereby away from the side of chute 9 opposite opening 41, i.e. toward opening 41. The closure caps will fall down the chute if it is not filled with caps. However, if chute 9 is fi ed wi ps. the gaps. a e pus ed a ay f m mag e ic deflecting cam 40 and are returned back into the hopper 5 through an opening 41.

As pointed out above, the star wheel 6 is freely rotatable. In order to prevent the inertia of the rotation of the star wheel 6 from causing a pocket to be out of register with the inlet chute 7, and closure caps being fed therefrom, means are provided to brake the free rotation of the star wheel 6. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, a friction brake 45 is provided beneath the star wheel 5. The brake 45 comprises bearing members 46 and 47 which bear against each other and frictionally retard the free rotation of the star wheel 6. The bearing members 46 and 47 may be made of any suitable material, such as graphite and kennametal. However, other materials may also be used. The friction brake 45 retards the free rotation of the star wheel 6 to such an extent that inertia will not swing a pocket out of register with the caps in the inlet chute 7.

An alternative type of retarding means is shown in FIGS. 10 and 12 in which a friction spring 52 extends from the chute 7 and bears against the top of the star wheel 6 to retard its free rotation.

Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. A plurality of magnets 51 are mounted beneath the exit chute 8. The magnetic attraction of these magnets will retard the movement of the closures so as to apply back pressure which is transmitted to the star wheel 6 to prevent it from rotating freely. Although three magnets 51 are shown in the drawings, it will be understood that any number of magnets may be used, without departing from the invention.

The operation of the present invention will be obvious from the foregoing description. Closure caps are fed to the rotatable star wheel 6 from the hopper 5 through the intermediation of the inlet chute '7. Those caps which are properly positioned are unaffected by the inverting star wheel 6 and are delivered to a sealing mechanism through chutes 8 and 9. Those closure caps which are improperly positioned are inverted by the star wheel 6 in the manner described above and are then fed to the sealing mechanism through chutes 8 and 9.

When it is desired to change the size cap which is handled by the inverting mechanism, the rails are moved outwardly or inwardly to an extent necessary to accommodate the size cap desired and the star wheel 6 is replaced with a similar star wheel of the proper size. In order to facilitate removal of the star wheel 6, the inverting cam 16 is pivoted and moved out of the way.

Thus the present invention provides a mechanism whereby the handling mechanism may be simply adjusted by using a set of star wheels whereby the path described by the outermost point of any cap in its appropriately-sized star wheel falls on essentially the same diameter. This requires only the inner guide rails to be adjusted. The inner guide rails need not be adjusted longitudinally since guide rails approach the center point of the star wheel in an amount proportioned to the decrease in the diameter of the star wheel for larger caps and no large opening occurs between the ends of the guides next to the star wheel and the outer diameter of the star wheel when smaller star wheels are used.

As pointed out above, in order to prevent the inertia of the rotating star wheel from causing a pocket of the star wheel to move out of register with the caps in the inlet chute, suitable retardation means, such as a friction brake 45 or a plurality of magnets 51 or the friction arm 52, is provided to retard the rotation of the star wheel.

Hence it will be seen that the present invention pro vides an improved closure cap inverting mechanism which can be easily converted to handle closure caps of different; sizes without the necessity of replacing many parts.

As various changes may be made in the form, con-. struction and arrangement of the parts herein without; departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and wit ut acrificin any of its advantages, it is to beu nderi stood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. In a closure cap handling mechanism having a frame, a pivot shaft on said frame for removably receiving rotatable star wheels of different diameters, inverting means adapted to cooperate with a star wheel on said pivot shaft for inverting improperly positioned closure caps, a cap feeding chute for feeding closure caps to a star wheel on said pivot shaft, a cap removing chute for directing closure caps away from a star wheel on said pivot shaft, each of said chutes having an outer rail substantially tangent to the path described by the outermost point of closure caps being handled by a star wheel on said pivot shaft, the improvement which comprises an inner rail on each of said chutes having an inner edge substantially parallel to said outer rail thereof, said inner rails being adjustable transversely of the chute in a direction substantially normal to the outer rail to adjust the width of the chutes and permit the chutes to accommodate closure caps of different sizes, each of said inner rails having an inclined face forming an acute angle with said inner edge, said inclined face being substantially normal to a radial line drawn through the pivot shaft and being adapted to move relative to said pivot shaft along said radial line and substantially perpendicular thereto upon adjustment of the inner rails, whereby star wheels of different sizes can be used and the inner rails adjusted without substantial change in the path described by the outermost point of any closure cap in its appropriately sized star wheel.

2. In a closure cap handling mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein said inner rails are provided with a plurality of openings and wherein a plurality of openings are provided on said frame in cooperative juxtaposition with the openings in said adjustable rails and wherein means are provided to cooperate with the openings in said frame and said rails to hold the rails in position.

3. In a closure cap handling mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein means are provided in association with a star wheel on the pivot shaft for retarding the rotation of said star wheel.

4. In a closure cap handling mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein said inverting means are provided adjacent a star wheel on the pivot shaft adapted to engage said improperly positioned closure caps to invert them, said engaging means being pivotally mounted whereby said engaging means may be swung away when a star wheel is to be replaced.

5. In a closure cap handling mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cap removing chute is provided with an opening adapted to permit excess closure caps to return to a source of supply, a magnetic deflecting cam in said chute opposite said opening adapted to direct excess closure caps toward said opening.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,763,356 9/1956 Tratsch 199101 2,804,737 9/1957 Rogier et a1. 133-1 3,094,242 6/1963 Kay et al. 221241 3,095,957 7/1963 Roberts et al. 193-443 HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner.

ANDRES H. NIELSEN, SAMUEL F. COLEMAN,

Examiners. 

1. IN A CLOSURE CAP HANDLING MECHANISM HAVING A FRAME, A PIVOT SHAFT ON SAID FRAME FOR REMOVABLY RECEIVING ROTATABLE STAR WHEELS OF DIFFERENT DIAMETERS, INVERTING MEANS ADAPTED TO COOPERATE WITH A STAR WHEEL ON SAID PIVOT SHAFT FOR INVERTING IMPROPERLY POSITIONED CLOSURE CAPS, A CAP FEEDING CHUTE FOR FEEDING CLOSURE CAPS TO A STAR WHEEL ON SAID PIVOT SHAFT, A CAP REMOVING CHUTE FOR DIRECTING CLOSURE CAPS AWAY FROM A STAR WHEEL ON SAID PIVOT SHAFT, EACH OF SAID CHUTES HAVING AN OUTER RAIL SUBSTANTIALLY TANGENT TO THE PATH DESCRIBED BY THE OUTERMOST POINT OF CLOSURE CAPS BEING HANDLED BY A STAR WHEEL ON SAID PIVOT SHAFT, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES AN INNER RAIL ON EACH OF SAID CHUTES HAVING AN INNER EDGE SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID OUTER RAIL THEREOF, SAID INNER RAILS BEING ADJUSTABLE TRANSVERSELY OF THE CHUTE IN A DIRECTION SUBSTANTIALLY NORMAL TO THE OUTER RAIL TO ADJUST THE WIDTH OF THE CHUTES AND PERMIT THE CHUTES TO ACCOMMODATE CLOSURE CAPS OF DIFFERENT SIZES, EACH OF SAID INNER RAILS HAVING AN INCLINED FACE FORMING AN ACUTE ANGLE WITH SAID INNER EDGE, SAID INCLINED FACE BEING SUBSTANTIALLY NORMAL TO A RADIAL LINE DRAWN THROUGH THE PIVOT SHAFT AND BEING ADAPTED TO MOVE RELATIVE TO SAID PIVOT SHAFT ALONG SAID RADIAL LINE AND SUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULAR THERETO UPON ADJUSTMENT OF THE INNER RAILS, WHEREBY STAR WHEELS OF DIFFERENT SIZES CAN BE USED AND THE INNER RAILS ADJUSTED WITHOUT SUBSTANTIAL CHANGE IN THE PATH DESCRIBED BY THE OUTERMOST POINT OF ANY CLOSURE CAP IN ITS APPROPRIATELY SIZED STAR WHEEL. 